‘Grief Is Like the Ocean’
My father died of cancer in June of 2020, a few months into the COVID-19 pandemic. At first he was diagnosed with a chronic, but not fatal, inflammatory arthritis that affects the spine and large joints. But after his condition continued to deteriorate, a trip back to the hospital revealed that he had metastatic brain […]
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More Than Just a Game
When I was 5 or 6, I played soccer for the first time. In a school playground, I found a soccer ball lying on a patch of dirt and started kicking it away from me, then running to retrieve it. I thought I was alone, but a few minutes later an older boy with ginger […]
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Taylor Swift: Vulnerability and Power
One of my first memories is watching Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” music video on MTV. I was 4 and my sister was 3. On the screen, a blonde girl wrote notes to her friend in her bedroom window and sang, “She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts…” The reserved girl who doesn’t wear […]
Read MoreMaking Joy
When I walk into the printmaking studio, the creaky wood-paneled floors give away my entrance. The studio appears dilapidated, with pipes exposed from an open ceiling, and I hear every other person’s footsteps and children screaming in the distance, but at this point it’s like a second home to me. Smelling the strong scent of […]
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